The present invention relates generally to wireless mesh networks and in particular to community based protocols for a wireless mesh network.
A mesh network is a network topology in which each node relays data for the network. Thus, all mesh nodes cooperate in the distribution of data in the network. Although mostly used in wireless situations, the concept of a mesh network may also be applied to wired networks and interactions between software. Generally, mesh networks may relay messages through either a “routing” process or a “flooding” process. Typically, there exists more than one path between the source and destination of the message. In a “routing” process, a message is propagated along a pathway by “hopping” sequentially from one node to another until the message reaches its final destination. If a connection path is broken, the message may be rerouted along a different pathway. In a “flooding” process, instead of using a specific pathway for transmitting a message, the message is instead propagated to every node within the network, even those nodes whom the message was not intended.